Author: UniGirl

Hi, the way you look matters. Yes it does. Did you ever see that kid’s movie, Nanny McPhee? The kids didn’t like her at the beginning of the movie, but they liked her by the end, right? And as they liked her more, her appearance improved, right? She became more attractive, and more like-able at the same time. Strange that, you never really see it the other way around. Now I believe that everyone is beautiful on the inside, and I also believe that everyone has the ability to also be beautiful on the outside! You can be your best self (and I really believe that everyone can do this) by dressing well and taking care of yourself.

Graduates that are dressed well, with good hygiene and a neat appearance are more likely to get a job. I could reference some psych study or something to prove this, but do I really need to? It’s obvious. Who knows, it might even help your grades. But how do you find nice clothes on the cheap? Some of this process will have to do with breaking out of your comfort zone. Maybe you are used to wearing street clothes? Or very casual clothes for comfort’s sake? Maybe you feel a bit ridiculous if you dress is a business or preppy style, but you need to remind yourself that you are an adult now and maybe it’s time to dress like one.

When you begin to dress in a more grown-up way you might be surprised by the range in prices you find for essentially the same clothes. Nowadays you can find dresses, suits (yes, suits – you can wear one occasionally), business wear, and neat casual clothes quite cheaply if you shop around. Try the reduced racks and discounted items at the upper tier stores, and while you are there check out the more expensive stuff. Get an idea of a look you like and then recreate it for cheap at another store! Quite often you can get some nice, neat, professional clothes for less than the cost of street fashion. You would have to be crazy to pay more to dress like an unemployed person!

Over time you will build a classic wardrobe that won’t quickly go out of fashion, and you will start to feel more confident wearing your new style of clothes. You will be surprised how differently you are treated based on how you dress, give it a try!

There’s food everywhere! And trust me, there is plenty to spare – you only need to look at how much is wasted and thrown away at the end of a function to see this. It is your duty to prevent this waste, and feed yourself in the process. To get free food at University – the first thing you need to do is work out where the free food is. What are you doing is to check for any flyers, try the common room, or just walking through the buildings in general to see if you can find an empty space but looks like it’s a place where a function could be held. Outside lecture theaters that are small, there could be electric food heaters etc. Once you identify an area where there are conferences or possibly trade displays – you can work out what time of the month or how often they come up – when you see one make sure you have your name tag (make a pre-prepared one, so just like a plastic pocket that you have like your name in) and whenever you see the visitor display or a conference of some sort and there is food out the front – put your nametag on, hold a notepad and pen, and walk up very confidently and help yourself! Grab it! Please help yourself, then go and sit with everyone and then just kinda slowly walk as you so do this. You can do this by yourself or you can do it in a group – it’ll be more obvious that you don’t belong there on your own, but generally people do not mind if there is an extra person. Then grab some free food!

The free food that is up for grabs at these conferences or trade displays is often really good quality food, so small cakes, pastries, sandwiches, you can even get some salads and stuff so it’s a good option. Just try and not to get too involved in the conversation because it makes it obvious that you’re not actually meant to be there!!